Women in Wind Launch: Press Release

Partnership with GWNET to advance women’s empowerment in the wind industry through training and mentoring.

Network of mentors among senior leaders to support the career advancement of women for greater gender diversity.

Focus on mentees in emerging wind markets in Latin America, Asia and Africa to contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Bilbao, 2 April: The Global Wind Energy Council has partnered with GWNET to launch the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program. The program is designed to accelerate the careers of women in the wind industry, support their pathway to leadership positions and foster a global network of mentorship, knowledge-sharing and empowerment.

The renewables industry continues to be male dominated, with females making up only 22% of the workforce according to a recent IRENA report. In launching this program, GWEC and GWNET call on other stakeholders in the renewables industry to recognise the importance of gender diversity in the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable development.

Joyce Lee, Policy and Operations Director at GWEC, said: “We are delighted to launch this initiative with GWNET. Gender diversity drives innovation, brings valuable perspectives to socio-economic development and provides a richer pool of talent for fast growing industries such as wind. I hope that this program will not only support women that are currently working in wind and drive their career ambitions, but also inspire many more to join them.”

Christine Lins, Executive Director and Founder Member of GWNET, said: “The Women in Wind Global Leadership Program is open for women working in the wind industry in emerging wind markets and aims to empower them in order to advance their careers and increase women representation at managerial and decision-making levels. A more gender-balanced energy sector will foster a quicker and more inclusive energy transition towards renewable energy.”

The Women in Wind program will create:

A dedicated program of training and mentoring for women in the wind industry, aimed at providing its participants with global perspectives, multidisciplinary experience and the network to advance to leadership positions;

A network of mentors among leading women in the wind industry;

A comprehensive education program that can be expanded upon year-on-year, incorporating the latest technology developments and best practices from the industry, to cover the areas of policy and advocacy, project management, project financing, turbine engineering and more;

A platform to assist leading companies in the sector in identifying talent and reaching new gender equality benchmarks, allowing them to fully leverage their human resources; and,

A growing network of alumni who can serve as mentors for the future generation of women entering the industry over the next decade, as wind becomes one of the world’s dominant energy sources.

Diversity in background and geography are driving principles of the program. In its inaugural year, the program will welcome 8-10 participants across all disciplines of the sector, from or based in the following emerging markets for wind: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.

In uplifting the next generation of stewards for a sustainable energy system, GWEC affirms its alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all).

Notes to editors

Participants are selected from a call for applications and nominations by sponsors, open from 2 – 15 April 2019. Successful applicants will be matched with a dedicated mentor and take part in a program from May 2019 – January 2020.

GWEC is a member-based organization that represents the entire wind energy sector. The members of GWEC represent over 1,500 companies, organizations and institutions in more than 80 countries, including manufacturers, developers, component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables associations, electricity providers, finance and insurance companies. See https://gwec.net/